Tampa taxpayers will foot the bill for the legal fees of former City Council member Orlando Gudes, incurred defending himself against a lawsuit from a former aide alleging defamation and emotional distress, Tampa City Council voted Thursday.

The council vote that he is entitled to reimbursement came two years after the release of a monthslong investigation that found Gudes fostered a hostile workplace for the aide, making a litany of crude and sexual comments toward her, her daughter and other women.

While the investigation — conducted by a private law firm at the city’s direction and on the taxpayers’ dime — found 18 of her allegations to be credible, the lawsuit she subsequently filed against her former boss was dismissed.

Under Florida law, public officials may be entitled to reimbursement at public expense for costs to defend themselves in private litigation if the alleged wrongful conduct arose out of performance of official duties.

The aide’s suit was dismissed in 2022, two months after the city announced a separate $200,000 settlement with her.

The aide failed to meet the “extraordinarily high bar for the type of outrageousness required under Florida law,” a judge wrote in the order granting the dismissal. The aide filed an appeal, but withdrew it last October when the court ordered her to be identified with her full name, not her initials.

In 2022, Gudes apologized for making comments “not appropriate for the workplace” but maintained they did not reach the level of sexual harassment.

A retired Tampa police officer, he was first elected to the City Council in 2019, serving East Tampa, downtown, Ybor City and parts of West Tampa. He characterized his aide as an old friend, a description she disputed in court. He has previously said he failed to set new guidelines in their interactions after hiring her.

The aide did not allege any sexual advances, requests for sex or touching by Gudes.

A majority of the Tampa City Council voted to reimburse Gudes for legal fees, tallying more than $45,000. Council member Gwen Henderson, a family member of the aide, abstained. Council member Charlie Miranda was the lone no vote.

Council member Alan Clendenin called the allegations “outrageous,” but added it was in the best interest of the citizens of Tampa that the city stand behind its elected officials.

”Next time it could be any one of us,” he said.

In the wake of the 2022 investigation, Gudes resigned his chairmanship but did not heed calls from some that he should resign his seat as an elected official altogether. Mayor Jane Castor has said she would have fired Gudes if she could.

Gudes’ lawyer contested the investigation’s findings, noting his client denied the most disturbing allegations, including making a comment about the breasts of the aide’s daughter.

In May 2022, the aide and her daughter sued Gudes. His attorney Ryan D. Barack filed to dismiss, arguing the suit was filled with “superfluous facts, and highly subjective characterizations.”

The court granted his motion in October 2022, dismissing her defamation claim with prejudice on the grounds that public officials are shielded for comments made while performing their official duties.

Though Gudes’ comment to the aide’s daughter about her body, if true, was “inappropriate, offensive, hurtful, and frankly very strange,” Circuit Judge Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe wrote, it did not meet the “extraordinarily high bar” that it amounted to intentional infliction of emotional distress.

As for Gudes’ alleged comments toward the aide, those too did not meet the bar.

Gudes lost his reelection bid last spring.